My long nails wrapped around the old wooden boards of the train tracks buried amongst layers of grey gravel. The steel beams running either side were boiled under the sun slowly cooking them and my own body. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAKIDOCdY2jI
87Please respect copyright.PENANAC3GQQqTMJa
The sky was clear, as it had been for a week now, with not a grey cloud in the sky. It was the perfect temperature too. The air was cool but not cold enough to freeze me or hot enough to choke me. It was pleasant to idle in on my wander to the house in the distance. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAqJQcGmMtps
87Please respect copyright.PENANAHCXtXUJr39
I kept my eyes locked on the tracks running as far as the eye could see through overgrown fields of grass that rippled like water in the breeze. My pace turned to excited running and my heart gripped at my chest when I saw a flash of orange and blue emerge from the house in the distance. 87Please respect copyright.PENANANMp0ZvMusR
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I bounded over the river and paused on the other side where people were moving across the empty road to the shops lined either side. 87Please respect copyright.PENANA4bP310AIjV
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I was in clear sight of them now. 87Please respect copyright.PENANABydhX6dRg4
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"Soup!" the tiny voice blew on the breeze to catch my attention again. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAecutBRdLzk
It was so faint, but it was the sound I was waiting for. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAAj9Ul8qlgb
87Please respect copyright.PENANAr0xB1Za7KR
A portly man approached the tracks as quick as his waddling body allowed, placing distance between us so he could squint in the direction of the house. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAbaRcGWCSKW
87Please respect copyright.PENANAQ9Y6PKkxPx
He was the news agency owner here. His balding head with a halo of grey hair and leathery skin once roughed by laborious work in his youth was easily distinguishable. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAjKnpZ2hYGC
His corner-shop was only a few meters from the tracks so he could have the time to waddle out each afternoon I made my appearance to make himself known. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAJHXmLOBBhh
87Please respect copyright.PENANAGIO4N7Rfe1
I used to call him Bartleby. He preferred Bartie.87Please respect copyright.PENANAxwnIVkGR2d
87Please respect copyright.PENANAMYOM840BIr
"MISSY!" Bartie cupped his hands around his mouth before pointing them to me "you've got to stop feeding the beast!" 87Please respect copyright.PENANAAtrWrZjXr2
87Please respect copyright.PENANASnGwGS515h
I snickered at his concern and walked past Bartie before he cleared his throat to halt me. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAkjwCEBT9VX
87Please respect copyright.PENANAHoKfCRHsF3
"You be good to her, Soup, you hear?" he scowled and waved a finger to me "I'll know if you do anything to her!" 87Please respect copyright.PENANAgkreO967KF
87Please respect copyright.PENANAdDCvmfIZRZ
He had no reason to worry so much. It was the same empty threat he had been giving me for three months straight now. 87Please respect copyright.PENANA7IqOHvGKZz
I just shook off Bartie's concern and raced for the woman waving for me to come. 87Please respect copyright.PENANA0LLpe2wE4V
87Please respect copyright.PENANAemYdJYHnve
I was smitten with her. She was so kind and had this wonderful light voice that was rougher around the edges. She had the most adorable freckles painted on her face and a lovely round body that she liked to swamp in knitted jumpers or flowing dresses she made. 87Please respect copyright.PENANA5R0xgXPo1w
87Please respect copyright.PENANA8cWeBWlSz7
When her features began to form on the figure bobbing closer into focus, I grinned wildly and pushed myself to sprint for her laughing face bent down to search for me through the sea of grass. I swam through it to break through to her open gate held back for me. Her scooter was heaved back into its stand here too. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAyEnEjXrAfA
87Please respect copyright.PENANAV1qIYaYXT4
Missy stood on the wooden stairs to her porch hugging the front half of her little wooden home. It was a very cost place made entirely of old wood painted in a muted green. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAIkVv4DW4Qy
It had herbs growing in the windows glimpsing into her sewing room in the left where she had spools of fabric hung on the wall next to her machine and dotted cloth mannequins. 87Please respect copyright.PENANASPVsqZ7NXE
87Please respect copyright.PENANAiNMhZpmN1M
Her right window had parts of her kitchen on show. I had peered into it a few times when I had been too eager to wait, watching her cook on her gas oven nestled within stone countertops while she shooed me away with a smile. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAWmHOVG5Xek
87Please respect copyright.PENANAUuiWXvWUJO
Missy had the window wide open to waft out the smell of the food she had been cooking. The rich beef spiralled around the earthy tones of stock and tangy herbs freshly plucked from her windows. I could smell the carrots and buttery pumpkin I knew were harvested from her garden nestled out the back. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAcZXKcccHht
87Please respect copyright.PENANATaGjTuyBHv
That's how we had met. I had been raiding her gardens at night before she caught me and chased me off. After a few nights of futile attempts to stop me, and several vegetables left discarded in my escape, she started offering me her leftovers before it became proper meals. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAn1cugmbmAb
87Please respect copyright.PENANAJLTHgkZmJJ
She didn't know what to call me, so she called me Soup. It was her favourite thing to feed me, and the easiest on her budget made selling homemade dresses. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAJS1ixLslKH
87Please respect copyright.PENANAfosmSSXuxS
"Soup!" Missy cooed down to me waiting at the bottom of her stairs "I missed you! I'll grab your food. I think you'll like it today." 87Please respect copyright.PENANAacmKv3twVV
87Please respect copyright.PENANA5kHqTGZtZ9
I liked how her voice rose excitedly when she saw me. It sounded like she was greeting a lifelong pet dear to her heart. I didn’t mind that; I was just glad she loved me so dearly to put this much effort into caring for me. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAqW3P5AKTvi
87Please respect copyright.PENANAp9zObviPH1
"Beef soup with my own vegetables and the local meat. I cooked it with teriyaki before putting it in" Missy exclaimed as she returned carrying two stone bowls and carefully placing one down on the grass for me. 87Please respect copyright.PENANA5thBEG8Wqk
87Please respect copyright.PENANAqXXZSCtL3U
My mouth was watering when I saw the mixture of colours beside me. Steam spiralled from the fresh meal Missy set down so she could fan out her checkered blue and white dress to sit on the stairs. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAjP2W15wIu3
87Please respect copyright.PENANAmO3vaZdvDW
She cradled her soup in her lap while I blew onto mine to try and cool it enough to scoff it down. 87Please respect copyright.PENANABUAY0eboka
My stomach was begging for the hot meal that little birds and discarded rubbish along the roads could never satisfy. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAWOaaiEaXGf
87Please respect copyright.PENANAg4N2RM3wt9
"Thank you" I grinned to her and wrapped my hands around the hot bowl so I could lift myself onto my legs and drink it down. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAOMjo4t7skd
Soup spilled down my chest to burn trails down my skin before I could swipe then up. The chunks of beef were chewy and wedged between my teeth. The bitter teriyaki coated all its layers to bring out the meaty flavour. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAGEzrrQ6dCU
87Please respect copyright.PENANA5awVQ87jmj
It was the cheap meat again. I don't think Missy could afford anything like the ones that fell from the bone or had soft marbles of fat throughout rather than thick coats. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAIWK4tUUKRk
87Please respect copyright.PENANAt7BDReLKmC
She grinned and watched me try to keep my balance as I felt the meal burn a new hole in my stomach that growled for more. My legs trembled, not used to being so relied upon when I had all four of my limbs to power me effortlessly now. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAIBRKsLwr8y
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I placed the bowl beside her and lowered myself back down. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAwYspWDU5CI
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"More please" I pointed.87Please respect copyright.PENANAqrpFoCfY6K
87Please respect copyright.PENANAARZdEyd4OV
She couldn't understand me but smiled like she had. All she heard were the same noises I did whenever I spoke in this form. It was just a mixture of growls and low snaps that I preferred to keep quiet, so I didn't scare her. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAyWjVvB7ueE
87Please respect copyright.PENANAD860wfqUOF
Missy liked it when I talked to her, and I liked it when I made Missy happy. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAljAMCoC0NL
87Please respect copyright.PENANAlT3h1Pmzo5
"You're hungry today" she mused "did I not feed you enough yesterday?" 87Please respect copyright.PENANAvlByl59XIr
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I just smiled and watched her retreat back inside, leaving her bowl on the stairs. 87Please respect copyright.PENANA8oLVkwwn1I
87Please respect copyright.PENANAsKM9ncMo3K
Missy was the type of person I would grow old with as a human. I often let my mind wander to what we could be if I hid behind my skin again as a human and tried to form a relationship with her in this home built for two. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAAHY0NK0RxC
87Please respect copyright.PENANAfnShvuSSMh
Despite having a sunny personality and being loved in town, Missy liked her quiet life. She didn't want her heart to be broken or taken advantage of. She was worried she was too poor to ever please a man or mother children. She hated that she was too scared to reach out and form those connections. 87Please respect copyright.PENANA8VP1d4WblC
87Please respect copyright.PENANAZVeYZRbPxz
She liked me because I was an animal to her. I had no commitments other than one hot meal a day. I wasn't going to make her sad or upset her simple lifestyle with big ambitions. I didn't drain her trickling budget or offer anything outside the trinkets of lost belongings or junk I presented her with. 87Please respect copyright.PENANA8W4MF1Qzwx
87Please respect copyright.PENANAFP5sswAVGo
I didn't want to ruin that. I kept in this form and didn't dare to try and act on my daydreams of being accepted into her life as her partner with open arms. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAHOnqwOzAtK
87Please respect copyright.PENANAM6XJhtcASD
I ate my soup and accepted her new name for me that spread through the town. It was simple and the way things were. 87Please respect copyright.PENANA9hYZqUB14b
87Please respect copyright.PENANAw1t8f2rQg7
"Here we go!" Missy returned from the house along with two slices of crusty sourdough she had pushed into the bowl "buttered it for you too, you greedy guts. I'm surprised you didn't eat mine." 87Please respect copyright.PENANAyEqKh23rjY
87Please respect copyright.PENANA7OyLiYIK1n
I was lucky to have her. She was too kind to be so afraid of life itself. Missy deserved more than it was handing her.87Please respect copyright.PENANAK6qigpK9aO
87Please respect copyright.PENANAa9fpZl6aHW
I took the filled bowl to drop one of the slices of bread into her own before shovelling this one down greedily. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAXvKb583S5L
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I could feel the warmth of it leaking down my front from the inside and bubble in my gut gurgling from so much liquid drowning it at once. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAY7sSVY41kR
87Please respect copyright.PENANAzkThuTOgUg
I snapped down the tough meat, licked the bowl, then headed back for the wall of grass awaiting me. 87Please respect copyright.PENANApObYnnZRWS
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"See you tomorrow?" Missy called out with a worried frown. 87Please respect copyright.PENANA3fR1Rini6C
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Of course, she would. I would never leave her wondering where I had gone. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAgNXCa3BYen
87Please respect copyright.PENANA7wZVq0PV6p
I nodded and disappeared into the grass to follow the train tracks back to the East. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAuAi3jrEg17
87Please respect copyright.PENANA5ZV5t9ZDYd
I stared up at the moon nestled in amongst the glittering stars from my grassy ledge curved over several meters from the tracks behind me. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAHYsT9tJdO8
87Please respect copyright.PENANAqaG0cQUHJx
The field surrounding me was dancing with wildflowers that stirred at the touch of glowing fireflies blinking through the air like showers of floating embers. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAQzys6TNUQV
87Please respect copyright.PENANA58xGO8YEsl
They flitted like fire in the cool air and amongst the flowers. The fireflies reached for the stars themselves and I watched them ascend to the dusted void above. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAQJafJfS1lE
87Please respect copyright.PENANAFghBsgnstY
It was so peaceful here with only the moonlight basking over the land. There was no artificial glow of streetlights or the sound of cars screeching on tar. The only sound piercing through the silence was the scraping of metal as the train thundered by on its nightly route to distant towns. Each lit window slashed over the grass below, reminding me of the loud and bright reality amongst the dark serenity until it was gone again. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAlUViCUc4OR
87Please respect copyright.PENANAIlLkXzFRZP
One day I might go visit those places. For now, I had my reason to stay here. 87Please respect copyright.PENANADYNPCZd5Sq
I wonder if she just stopped to stare at the beauty of the moon too. Maybe she sewed in her room while wondering about things beyond her reach like I did? 87Please respect copyright.PENANAgQiP4dRmBf
87Please respect copyright.PENANATHj96NntUO
I smiled at the moon and laid back, so I didn't have to take my eyes from it. 87Please respect copyright.PENANABaYWlbZgni
The soft grass would be my bed tonight. Usually, I roamed for food or trash on the roadside for several kilometres to try and salvage something until sleep sapped my energy and I collapsed wherever I was. 87Please respect copyright.PENANA32quIMgnEO
87Please respect copyright.PENANACHsm7WMaKH
The moonlit field of fireflies would be nice tonight. I could wait until Missy gifted me with her wonderful food tomorrow. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAVvzIzNOC59
87Please respect copyright.PENANAsxztyDeON2
I curled up with my hands wrapped around me, pretending they were hers cradling me and breathing warmth into me. 87Please respect copyright.PENANAESb34t6UBQ
87Please respect copyright.PENANA87AQEUAzy6
One day...